Wood Blocks and Vinyl Projects for all Occasions

Spell out your holiday spirit! Get inspired all week long with these fun projects wood and vinyl projects! Don't stop with the holidays though. Go ahead and brag. Add your family name or even your favorite football team!

Instructions:

1. Paint blocks with acrylic paint.

2. Cut paper to fit each block.

3. Glue paper to block using a Pioneer Glue Stick.

4. Add a vinyl of your choice.

* Six Piece Wood Block Set $9.99 (reg. $14.99), Seasonal Vinyl Sayings $6.99 (reg.$9.99-$14.99) on sale until October 6th, 2013

Westminister Lumio Yarn

Don’t be afraid of the dark! Walking with your neighbor or doing some early morning training; this yarn will let you been seen. It has been spun with a strand of reflective tape, giving it a glow that will keep you safe in the dark!

This new super bulky yarn has a reflective thread that runs through it! One skein will make one hat. 93% acrylic, 7% other fibers. Machine wash and dry. Not available in Medford.

* New Westminister Fibers Inc. Lumio Yarn advertized $14.99 a skein. Join our Facebook Weekend Giveaway where we are giving away 4 skeins plus a set of double pointed needles! Visit our Facebook page for details!

Project Life Cinnamon Edition by Project Life Design Team Member Kayla Kamin

Hi everyone!  My name is Kayla, and I blog over at Kaylanaut!  I am so excited to show you how I use Project Life to document my life and keep my memories.

I'll be using the Project Life cinnamon edition core kit, which you can pick up at your nearest Craft Warehouse store.

What they say about Project Life is true:  all you truly need to complete an album is a core kit, a binder, pocket pages, photos, and a pen. I don't usually stray too far from that, but on occasion I do like to play around with embellishments!

This time, I'll be using the Cinnamon Edition core kit 3x4 and 4x6 cards, as well as the 12x12 paper, which I'll show you how I use a bit later.  I also use my favorite journaling pens, scissors, a paper trimmer, and a basic permanent roller adhesive.  Craft Warehouse will have everything you see here and everything you'll need to create an album of your own.

Project Life is so flexible.  I've been doing it since January, so I've definitely gotten into habits -- for instance, I always use the top left corner spot for my "title" card.  I'm going to cut a card from the 12x12 paper to use for my title card, which is extremely simple!  The title pocket is 4x6.

First, I start with a 12x12 page of my choosing.

Then, I open the paper trimmer and make a cut along the 6" mark.

I take that half of the page and then make a cut at the 4" mark.

And voila!  My own title card!  I do this with any 12x12 (or even 6x6) paper I want to use.  I've even cut things like shopping bags to 4x6 to fit in these pockets!

Another personal preference, but totally not necessary:  I like the look of rounded corners, so I use my We R Memory Keepers corner chomper at the 1/4" size to round the corners of anything I cut down.

I then start adding in my photos and Project Life cards, moving them around and finding a layout that works for me:

What is really neat about the Cinnamon Edition pack of 12x12 paper is that it has this really neat page that's filled with fun phrases.  I'm going to play around with that a bit and use it for embellishment:

Once I've decided what I want to go where, I use my roller adhesive to attach the bits to the photos and journaling cards.

I can even move things around and use 3x4 photos in 4x6 slots - with just a bit of craftiness, if you will!

Next is my favorite part: adding journaling!  Journaling is such a personal and fun touch to Project Life pages.  This is another opportunity to tell a story, something else to look back on and smile about!  I think it's my favorite part.

I've definitely learned to love my handwriting due to Project Life - I used to think it was pretty awful, but I realize that it's unique to me and it's my most valuable tool to document my life with (aside from a camera, of course, but those come and go!), so I've warmed up to it quite a bit.

After that, I go in and add a bit more "flair."  I really love these roller stamps from Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy!  They're super simple and cute ways to add a bit extra to your photos and cards.

And once all that's in place, voila!  Project Life pages!

I bet my last dollar that I'll have just as much fun looking back on these pages years down the line as I do putting them together.  :)

I am so grateful for the Project Life system, since it makes documenting what is without a doubt the biggest year of my life so far (marriage, moving, etc.!) so simple and so fun!  I always look forward to putting my pages together, and already I swoon when I look at all of the memories that are kept safely, prettily, and seamlessly in these pocket pages.

Thanks for reading!

Project Life Design Team Member Kayla Kamin

Meet Kayla Kamin! We fell in love with Kayla's minimalistic style and photography! Plus, her personality is fun, down to earth, and it shows  through out her Project Life pages! She says about Becky Higgins' Project Life, "I eventually forayed into the wonderful world of Project Life, which I am absolutely in love with and am so thankful that a system like that exists!"

How long have you been crafting?

I've only recently begun the foray into scrapbooking and paper craft as recently as last year, but the moment I sat down and started creating, I absolutely fell in love!  My first official project was a 30 Days of  Lists mini book, and the process of cutting up paper and adding photos, journaling, and bits and pieces to tell a story immediately captured my heart.  I went on to create several mini-books, which was my "main squeeze" before Project Life.  I started Project Life this January, and the love affair is similar but much stronger! I'm totally hooked!

What inspires you to be creative?

I've always been a writer with an emphasis in non-fiction, so I am inspired by everyday life and trying to document it as best I can to capture how unique and special it is.  Everyone's story is different -- some have a family and children that drive their stories and inspire them to create, others have jobs that fulfill them and make their day-to-day super awesome.  I like to focus on the little things, the details, something as simple as the perfect cup of tea or something hilarious my husband did, a trip to the ballpark or a nice hike through the California redwood forests.  Moments that make me happy, that make my heart swell, that are usually lost if you're not paying attention.  There is also no shortage of inspiration on the internet to make me swoon and to challenge me to try something new!  I'm a huge fan of color, and of composition: a great photo can sometimes do most of the work for you.  ;)

What Craft Warehouse products do you love to use?

I am a very big fan of the basics and classics: a Becky Higgins core kit (great for both foundations to build from or on it's own!), simple patterned paper, minimalist embellishments (but with lots of color!), my favorite Uni-Ball Signo white ink pen, and my Pilot V-5s in black.  Oh, and my 1/4" WRMK Corner Chomper.  :)  I like to find the fine line between detailed and simplistic, as it can be easy to distract from the storytelling.

How can you encourage others reading this column?

I have no doubt that the plethora of inspiration from this design team will be nothing short of stellar!  I will definitely be sharing my journey as I learn and refine my personal style through my blog, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as sharing what others on the design team are up to through those mediums as well.

Check out Kayla's blog and Instagram for more Project Life inspiration or follow her on Twitter! Make sure to return tomorrow with a Project Life tutorial that will keep you motivated to document your everyday in less time and with less stress!

Would you like to design for Craft Warehouse? We would love to hear from you! Send an email with your name, blog address, and a sample of your work to jenevans at craftwarehouse dot com.

Echo Park's Reflections Fall Scrapbook Page by Design Team Member Erica Thompson

Hello Everyone!  My name is Erica Thompson and I am so very excited to be posting for the very first time here on The Craft Warehouse blog!  I had some great products to create with from The Craft Warehouse store and was able to scrap some recent photos of one of our boys using Echo Park's Reflections Fall  line.
 

I had four photos that I planned on using but then decided after going through the collection that I wanted to only use the two photos of my son and his acorns.  We had recently gone to the park and the boys had a blast finding acorns!  We had to keep a close eye on my youngest because he kept trying to eat them.  I knew this collection would be a perfect match for these photos and had so much creating my layout!

After I decided what photos I was going to use it was time to chose a background paper for my layout.  I normally take my photos and put them against each paper I have out and decide what I like best.  I ended up choosing one that matched the acorns my son had found and it also matched the football helmet on his sweatshirt.

Now that I have my background I like to start choosing pieces to layer my photos on.  I do tend to use a ton of layers but for some reason I was not feeling it with this layout.  I knew I had to use the patterned paper with the acorns on it so I went ahead and cut that down to a good size.  I am not one to measure so I just eyeball just about everything!  Once I had that paper cut down and placed it against a few of the other patterned papers and ended up picking out a great chevron paper that I thought went well with the other two papers.

When I scrap I do not follow any certain design rules I just have fun and do what I think looks good to me.  I have fun with it and just enjoy being creative.  Since my photos are going to have a light patterned paper behind them I decided to mat them with a dark brown paper from the collection to help them stand out. 

Now that I have my layers and my photos are matted I went ahead and adhered these pieced down to my background paper.  I only add adhesive to the centers of everything so that if I want to tuck in more layers and embellishments I can do it easily.  Once my layout is complete I will go back and add more adhesive to hold it all together or my favorite thing to use is staples!  Now that I have these temporary adhered to my layout it is start to add embellishments and bring this layout to life!  I start with a border strip from one of the collections sticker sheets.  I always take the stickers and stick them to the back of my hand a few times to remove some of their stick so they are easy to remove in case I change my mind after placing them on my layout.

This just happen to be the case with this border sticker and even though I liked the boarder strip I ended up removing it from my layout.  I continued to embellish my layout and I did alter a couple of the embellishments from the layered stickers.  I found a great layered sticker with some leaves and acorns on it but only wanted to use one of the acorn so I removed it and kept the dimensional with it and added it to this fabulous Bo Bunny flower.

Next I added a few embellishment clusters to my layout.  I tend to have at least one cluster somewhere on my layout.  I did keep this layout pretty clean but still had to add some clusters!
 

And that's it my layout is complete and I did it all while keeping my 3 year old busy with scrapbook paper, punches and markers and my 1 year old in his high chair eating his cereal!  Busy moms have to fit creative time in our schedules whenever we get the chance!  Here is a look at my completed layout!

I hope you enjoyed my layout and if you love this collection from Echo Park as much as I do make sure you visit Craft Warehouse where you will find everything you need to get your creative juices going!  Have a fabulous day!!